It lives in a sunny spot, but doesn’t have a lot of room, and the soil underneath is poor.
Somehow, though, a lone hollyhock in West Bay is thriving and reaching new heights.
Elena Lappi-Jansson and her husband Micah Jansson noticed about a month ago that their plant looked unusually tall, so they decided to start measuring it. As of Aug. 28 the plant was 15-feet-five-inches tall. Measured again on Sept. 1, it had already grown three more inches and now stands at 15-feet-eight-inches tall.
And it’s still growing, noted Elena in an email to the North Shore News.
“We assume it will reach at least 16 feet by the time the last flowers are open. It has several side stems on it as well,” she said.
The couple are both avid gardeners and maintain an organic vegetable garden in addition to their annual and perennial flowers.
They are both members of the West Vancouver Garden Club, the Vancouver Orchid Society, and the Vancouver Mycological Society, but Elena said they didn’t do anything special to make this hollyhock so tall.
“We cannot take any credit for this exceptional hollyhock,” she said. “We really did nothing special for it. We raised it from seed last season, and randomly transplanted it this spring to make room for other seedlings.”
It has been a lot of fun watching it grow, she said, adding: “It is impossible to miss, so neighbours do notice and comment on it as they walk by.”
Other seeds the couple planted from the same packet grew to about six to nine feet, which is more typical of this type of plant.
For some reason this hollyhock, however, wanted to explore new territory.
“We did nothing for it other than water it, but it just keeps soaring,” said Elena.
